摘要：Please explain this headline, particularly “too little too late”: Why Donald Trump’s tariff delay is too little too late (The Econ

Reader question:

Please explain this headline, particularly “too little too late”: Why Donald Trump’s tariff delay is too little too late (The Economist, April 14, 2025).

My comments:

Apparently an article under such a headline examines why Donald Trump’s decision to delay all the high tariffs he has threatened to impose on America’s trading partners is not going to be effective.

The Economist, by the way, is a British business magazine of universal renown.

Donald Trump, of course, is the President of the United States. After reentering the White House, Trump unilaterally declared a trade war against America’s trading partners by putting a tariff of as much as 145 percent on goods coming into the United States.

Then he declared a 90-day pause on those tariffs.

Why did he back track?

Well, the stock market crashed, along with the bond market. The US dollar was also weakened.

The economy as a whole was badly wounded. People started talking about a recession, which they’d call a “Trumpcession”, a recession of Trump’s own doing, a recession for which Trump is solely responsible.

So, in a U-turn, Trump declared to pause (delay) the tariffs – in order to limit the damage.

But, alas, the damage had already been done. Trump’s tariff delay no longer worked. It proved to be ineffective, as market remained sluggish.

As The Economist put it, Trump’s change of mind was too little, too late.

Literally, “too little” means that the decision is too small and insignificant. It was not big enough to lift the spirits of the people and the marketplace. “Too late” means the decision came too late. Had it come sooner, it might have been more effective.

In combination, “too little, too late” means too insufficient, too late and therefore (too) ineffective.

In other words, it was all for naught.

All right, let’s read a few media examples to better understand the expression “too little, too late”:

1. A historic apology on Friday from the president of the United States. President Biden expressed the nation’s regret over the government's role in the abuse and neglect of Native American children.

For about 150 years, thousands of Indigenous children were forced into federal boarding schools to be assimilated into White society.

An Interior Department report released in 2022 says nearly a thousand Native American children died in the government’s boarding school system.

Now this terrible chapter in American history is no longer hidden. But many Native families are still dealing with generational trauma created by those schools.

“Going back and think about all the things I lost,” said George Lussier.

Lussier said it is hard to put into words how much of his culture and history has been lost because his parents were forced into boarding schools.

“We weren’t even taught about our culture, it wasn’t even mentioned,” Lussier said.

He says every Native American alive today is impacted by what the federal government and religious institutions did from 1819 to the 1970s, forcing Indigenous people to assimilate into White American culture.

“My dad used to talk about it, he said they used to run away and then they would catch them, send them back and who knows what they did to them when they got back,” Lussier said.

Lussier said his father did not speak much about his treatment in boarding school. His mother never talked about it.

“The important part to take away is that Native American history is American history and that we have to tell the full story of our country,” said Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.

Flannagan was with Mr. Biden in Arizona.

“It was incredibly powerful to witness the apology from the president of the United States regarding the federal American Indian boarding school policy while my daughter was seated right next to me,” Flanagan said.

She hopes people do their own research to learn more about the boarding school era and the policies that stripped generations of language and culture away from Native people.

For Lussier, the president’s apology is too little, too late. He said the apology doesn’t mean anything to him.

“But I’m being honest, the way I’ve been treated all my life. It’s going to be up to the individual to accept it and some people won’t,” Lussier said.

- For some Native Americans, Biden’s apology over boarding schools means little, CBSNews.com, October 25, 2024.

2. There may have never been a more purely partisan figure in American politics than Mitch McConnell. He is in his seventh Senate term and was the longest-serving Senate party leader ever, managing 18 years in that post even as the GOP steadily transformed itself into a radically ideological party around him. McConnell presided over a Republican Conference that specialized in disabling Democratic administrations, from its scorched-earth policy against Barack Obama to its relentless opposition to the agenda of Joe Biden.

But despite McConnell’s disdainful attitude toward Donald Trump, he delivered the president’s beloved tax cuts and a steady flow of easy confirmation votes on executive-branch and judicial appointments. The Kentuckian gave Trump the priceless gift of a third Supreme Court appointment in his first term after his audacious and unprecedented refusal to give so much as a hearing to Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland. McConnell also defended Trump from conviction on two rounds of impeachment articles passed by the House. Though McConnell clearly disliked Trump (who more than reciprocated his contempt), the president was the party boss and McConnell was above all a party foot soldier.

I say “was,” because in the sad dénouement of his career after he gave up the Senate leadership, McConnell is finally showing a few signs of real independence from Trump. As the Senate’s Republican majority has rubber-stamped even the least qualified and most questionable of the 47th president’s nominees, McConnell has voted against three of them: Defense secretary Pete Hegseth, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Viewed without context, the first two votes reflect McConnell’s old-school Cold War views on defense and foreign policy, which made the empty MAGA suit Hegseth and the anti-interventionist former Democrat Gabbard repellent. And anyone who cannot find a reason for fears about Kennedy isn’t looking very hard. But plenty of other Republican senators undoubtedly suppressed similar misgivings and voted to give Trump what he wanted. Not the man who spent so many years whipping his troops into partisan uniformity.

These gestures are, however, far too little and way too late.Without question, Trump decisively won his long-standing feud with McConnell. Had ill health not forced him to step down as party leader, he would have almost certainly have been deposed as a satisfying punctuation mark on the MAGA movement’s total conquest of the Republican Party. Now he’s finally liberated from Trump’s yoke as he serves out his last two years in the Senate (it’s hard to imagine him trying to stick around beyond 2026). But McConnell has become totally irrelevant, which is the worst fate imaginable for a man who so clearly valued power over any set of real principles.

…

It’s very cute how Mitch McConnell is doing his little protest votes on Trump nominations now that he’s one foot in the grave. He had more power than anyone to stop Trump from ever becoming president again by pushing to convict him in the Senate four years ago but he was too big of a coward.

- McConnell Finally Defies Trump, Now That He’s Irrelevant, by Ed Kilgore, NYMag.com, February 13, 2025.

3. Gary Lineker revealed he celebrated Newcastle's landmark Carabao Cup final triumph as if they were his own club, but was quick to clarify he meant “no disrespect” to Liverpool. The Magpies ended a 70-year wait for silverware in spectacular fashion on Sunday, overcoming Liverpool 2-1 beneath the iconic Wembley arch.

Goals from Dan Burn and Alexander Isak sealed Newcastle’s first major trophy since 1955, with Federico Chiesa netting a late consolation for the Reds. The result also saw the Toon break a six-final losing streak, and ended Liverpool’s hopes of winning multiple pieces of silverware this season.

Discussing the game on The Rest Is Football podcast, Lineker admitted he couldn’t help but get swept up in the excitement of Newcastle’s victory. “I was watching with my lads... and when Dan Burn headed [the opening goal] in, all five of us jumped up, shouting like it was our own team,” the 64-year-old confessed.

“No disrespect to Liverpool. But they’ve won so much, and I think most neutrals with a heart wanted Newcastle to win.”

Despite only enjoying 34 per cent possession, Newcastle fully deserved their win, crafting the majority of clear-cut chances while restricting Arne Slot’s team to just two shots on target. The breakthrough fittingly came from lifelong Newcastle supporter Burn, who powered home a bullet header from 15 yards out on the stroke of half time.

Isak then doubled Newcastle’s lead shortly after the break, coolly slotting home his 23rd goal of the season after latching onto a Jacob Murphy knockdown. The two-goal deficit spurred Liverpool into action, but their increased urgency failed to translate into end product.

It wasn’t until second half stoppage time that Nick Pope was finally beaten, but by then, it was too little, too late. Newcastle expertly controlled possession in the dying moments, frustrating the Reds before referee John Brooks’ whistle confirmed their long-awaited triumph – sparking jubilant scenes in the Newcastle end.

- Liverpool told ‘no disrespect’ by Gary Lineker in message over his private Carabao Cup feelings, LiverpoolEcho.co.uk, March 18, 2025.

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About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

来源：中国日报网